Back pressure Effect

Flammable or toxic vapors can be piped to a flare after separation of liquid is obtained. An important design problem in flare use is the very high vent rate experienced for a relatively short time, if an existing flare is used. Also back-pressure effects on the liquid separator vessel must be considered, especially if choked flow of vapor occurs downstream of the separator. 

Back pressure, effect, C02-based SFC, 162,167 Band broadening HPLC, 2 TCD, 68... 

Mini-columns for analyte separation/concentration can also behave as reactors, resembling the packed bed reactor. In this context, organic polymer monoliths, largely used in the medical and biological fields [73], should be highlighted. Monolithic mini-columns consist of continuous beds with macropores and mesopores which are characterised by low back-pressure effects. These columns offer several other advantages [74], as emphasised in Chapter 8. In the context of flow analysis, monolithic mini-columns were implemented in a sequential injection analyser in 2003 [75] and the potential and limitations of the approach, called Sequential Injection Chromatography, were recently reviewed [76]. 

Leaks, back pressure, and actuator dynamics all influence the performance of peristaltic pumps. Leaks and back pressure effects will alter the distribution of fluid as actuators open and close. The dynamics of the actuators determines the maximum actuatitm rate, which in turn limits the maximum flow rate. These effects can be incorporated into lumped-parameter models for analysis and simulation. We do not pursue this further in this entry, but refer the reader to the literamre. One general approach is presented in Ref. [7]. Also relevant for further smdy are Refs. [6, 8], and [13], which present dynamic models for pneumatic and electrostatic pumps, respectively. All of these works are applied to liquid pumps. For gas pumps, or robustness to bubbles, compressibility becomes a factor. Some considerations of micropumps for compressible fluids may be found in Ref. [1]. Finite-element analysis of individual chambers can also be used to obtain detailed predictions of pump dynamic performance. 

Samples were usually transferred to the microfluidic system by electrokinetic injection and pressure injection. Electrokinetic sample introductimi is most commonly used for transferring samples to chips. This can be attributed to factors such as the simplicity in achieving elec-troosmotic flow (EOF), i.e., no moving parts and minimal back-pressure effects. The EOF in the microchannel acts as a pump and can easily be controlled by outside high voltages. The two commonly employed injection modes for microfluidic chips are time-based and discrete volume-based injection. In the case of the time-based (or gated) injection, the amount of sample introduced into the carrier stream can be controlled by adjusting the injectirMi time. 

Tlie safety valve is similar to the relief valve except it is designed to open fiillv, or pop, with onlv a small amount of pressure over the rated limit. Conventional safety valves are sensitive to dovvmstream pressure and niav have iinsatisfactorv operating characteristics in variable back pressure applications. The balanced safety relief valve is available and minimizes the effect of dovvmstream pressure on performance. 

Another solution is to eliminate the air exiting the unit on the assumption that if no air goes in, no flue gas comes out to drive the expander. Again, this is not very effective because the unit acts as a large surge bottle and the large flue gas valves are relatively slow. Before the flue gas back-pressure valves have acted, excessive acceleration may result. 

Safety Relief Valve - A safety relief valve is an automatic pressure-relieving device suitable for use as either a safety valve or relief valve, depending on application. (In the petroleum industry it is normally used in gas and vapor service or for liquid.) Safety relief valves are classified as "Conventional" or "Balanced", depending upon the effect of back pressure on their performance. 

Balanced Bellows Safety Relief Valve - A balanced safety relief valve incorporates means for minimizing the effect of back pressure on the performance characteristics opening pressure, closing pressure, lift and relieving capacity. This is usually achieved by the installation of a bellows. 

The operation and characteristics of a conventional safety relief valve are illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 3. The action of the valve as pressure rises from the initial normal operating pressure (assuming no back pressure) is described below. The effect of back pressure on PR valve operation is described later. 

Although venting to the atmosphere as described above is preferred, an alternative is to tie into a closed low pressure system, if available. This method may be used in the case of severely toxic fluids. Minimum length vent piping should be used. The effects of any back pressure must be thoroughly examined, since in such a case, superimposed back pressure is additive to the spring force. 

Balanced bellows valves need no reduction in spring pressure to compensate for superimposed back pressure, and they can tolerate variable superimposed back pressure without an effect on opening pressure. 

In general, the total back pressure on a balanced bellows pressure relief valve (superimposed plus built-up) should be limited to 50% of set pressure, because of the marked effect of higher back pressures on valve capacity, even when appropriate correction factors are used in sizing. In exceptional cases, such as a balanced bellows PR valve discharging into another vessel, total pressure up to 70% of set pressure may be used. 

Excessive Built-up Back Pressure - Built-up back pressure resulting from discharge flow through the outlet system of a conventional PR valve results in a force on the valve disc tending to return it to the closed position. If this returning force is sufficiently large, it may cause the valve to close, only to reopen immediately when the effect of built-up back pressure is removed. Chattering results from the rapid repetition of this cycle. 

Effect of Temperature on Back Pressure Limits of PR Valves - Maximum back pressure limits are specified by the valve vendor. Usually the vendor s specification is given to a reference temperature (normally 38 °C) for both conventional and bellows valves. These limits must be reduced for higher temperatures, as follows ... 

Figures 17. Effect of back pressure on (A) conventional safety valve and (B) piston type valve.

Other types of pressure-relief valves do not depend upon the back pressure for their performances. However, to ensure that the safety valves work at their maximum capacity, back pressure is limited to 50 percent of the relief valve set pressure. In the balanced bellows type valve, the spring does not act directly on the disk. Instead, it serves on a bellows first, which in turn acts on the disk. In case of the piston type, it works on the same principle as the bellows type, except that the bellows is replaced by a piston (see Figure 17B). The cross-sectional area of both the piston and the bellows is the same as the inlet nozzle of the valve and the effect of the back pressure on the top and the bottom of the disk creates equal balancing forces. That is, P,A is always equal to F, as shown in Figure 17B. 

Back-pressure can affect either the set pressure or the capacity of a relief valve. The set pressure is the pressure at which the relief valve begins to open. Capacity is the maximum flow rate that the relief valve will relieve. The set pressure for a conventional relief valve increases directly with back-pressure. Conventional valves can be compensated for constant back-pressure by lowering the set pressure. For self-imposed back-pressure—back-pressure due to the valve itself relieving—-there is no way to compensate. In production facility design, the back-pressure is usually not constant. It is due to the relief valve or other relief valves relieving into the header. Conventional relief valves should be limited to 10% back-pressure due to the effect of back-pressure on the set point. 

All relief valves are affected by reaching critical flow, which corre-spond.s to a back-pressure of about 50% of the set pressure. Pilot-operated relief valves can handle up to 50% back-pressure without any significant effect on valve capacity. Back-pressure correction factors can be obtained from the relief valve manufacturers for back-pre.ssures above 50%. API RP 520 gives a generic method for sizing a pilot-operated relief valve for sub-critical flow. 

Turbochargers use the expansion of exhaust gas to pump combustion air to an engine. Exhaust gas is directed through a set of nozzles to drive a turbine wheel. Directly connected to the exhaust turbine is an air compressor turbine that delivers combustion air to the power cylinders. Thus, back-pressure is put on the engine exhaust, reducing power slightly, but the net effect of the increase in air mass flow available for combustion i.s to increase horsepower. 

It was shown that the effect of the particle size is not significant in HOPC (1). The experiments were conduced using silica gels of the same pore size but with a different average particle size between 15 and 100 /urn. A kinetic effect— enrichment of the mobile phase with high MW components is better at short times before equilibrium is reached—was cited as a possible reason for almost equal quality of separation by large particles. The back-pressure problem was not serious in that range of the particle size. 

Figure 6-13. Effect of steam pressure on capacity for constant system suction and back-pressure. By permission, R Freneau, [4],...

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